What changed
Intake Breathing took $62M from Camino Partners, its first institutional round
When
Announced October 28, 2026
Who it affects
Intake CEO Alex Hauck; Camino, founded by Kind's Daniel Lubetzky
What to do
Sellers: judge retail readiness on repeat buyers and new-to-category demand

Key takeaways

  • Intake Breathing raised $62 million from Camino Partners, its first institutional round, announced October 28, 2026.
  • Almost all sales come from Amazon and its own site; no first major retail partner has been chosen.
  • Camino's case rests on new demand: 74% of Intake users had never bought traditional nasal strips.

Intake Breathing, from clip to $62M

  1. Castillo builds a magnetic goggle clip

  2. Kickstarter campaign

  3. Tab sales count starts, now 100M+ pairs

  4. Prestige agrees to buy Breathe Right

  5. Camino's $62M round announced

What happened with Intake Breathing

Camino Partners, the firm Kind founder Daniel Lubetzky started, invested $62 million in Intake Breathing, Modern Retail and Beauty Independent reported on October 28, 2026. The stake was not disclosed. Entrepreneur reported it is the largest investment in Camino's history.

The money goes toward moving into physical retail and building the team, including an experienced executive to oversee retail readiness. Intake is in talks with major retailers, but Beauty Independent says no first partner has been chosen and launches are expected in the coming years, so this is a plan and not a shelf date.

How a family project got here

Inventor Jim Castillo built the idea to solve a motocross problem: goggles pinching his nostrils. Entrepreneur dates the magnetic clip to 2014 and says the prototype sat idle for years until his family pushed it forward. A 2019 Kickstarter followed. Castillo's son-in-law Alex Hauck is the CEO, and Intake counts more than 100 million pairs of adhesive tabs sold since 2023, with triple-digit growth over the past three years.

The product is a reusable magnetic band with single-use adhesive tabs. Starter kits cost about $40 to $50, Beauty Independent reports, and Entrepreneur lists a $25 monthly subscription.

Intake Breathing by the numbers

$62MCamino investment
74%users new to nasal strips
100M+pairs of tabs sold since 2023
Source: Beauty Independent and Modern Retail, 2026

Why a stagnant category attracted $62 million

Modern Retail describes nasal strips as a stagnant category, and Breathe Right holds roughly 60% of the US and Canadian market, according to its parent, Prestige Consumer Healthcare. Prestige agreed in March 2026 to pay about $1.05 billion for Breathe Right and related assets, which Yahoo Finance reported brought in about $200 million in 2025 revenue.

Intake's pitch is that it did not fight for those shoppers. Camino president Elle Lanning told Modern Retail that 74% of Intake consumers have not been legacy category buyers. Intake sold through sport and sleep and not the cold-and-sinus aisle, and Hauck says about 90% of its ads simply show people wearing the product while out and about.

What this means for sellers and brands

Four lessons apply well beyond nasal strips.

  • New buyers are worth more than switchers. The 74% figure, not the sales total, is what Camino led with. A brand that grows a category has a better story for investors and retailers than one taking share
  • Amazon can be the proving ground, not the end point. Almost all of Intake's sales came from Amazon and its own site before any major retail deal
  • Consumable refills make the numbers. A reusable base with a repeat purchase gives you the repeat data buyers want to see
  • Retail takes time and people. Even with $62 million, Intake is hiring for retail readiness first and talking in years, not weeks

Before you pitch retail

  • Repeat purchase rate you can prove
  • New-to-brand share of orders
  • Margin after trade spend
  • Refill or subscription revenue
  • Case packs and compliance ready
  • One person who owns retail

What sellers should do

If you run an online-first brand and retail or outside capital is on your list, work through these steps first.

  • Pull a Brand Analytics repeat purchase report and track new-to-brand share from your ads, so you have your own version of the 74% number
  • Check Subscribe and Save and refill sales as a share of revenue, and ask whether your product has a natural refill
  • Split branded and non-branded ad spend to see whether you are creating demand or only capturing it
  • Test ad creative that shows real use; Intake's approach is cheap to try in Sponsored Brands video
  • Build a retail readiness list: margin after trade spend, case packs, compliance and a person who owns it

Where PPC Spider helps

A brand raising money or pitching retailers needs clean numbers. Our Amazon product launch guide covers building early demand, the DTC marketing strategy examples show how brands grow off Amazon, and our Shopify and DTC agency and Amazon PPC management teams work across both channels. See how other brands were priced in the BÉIS deal, follow more on the Shopify and ecommerce news channel, or get a free Amazon audit of your margins and ad efficiency.

Sources

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